Cost-Wise wants to put your money back in your pocket.

New local business says chances are you’re overpaying for your telecom services and they can help.

Have you looked at your phone bill recently? Like really looked at it? If so, you may actually notice that everything looks right and you’re paying exactly what you were told when you signed your contract.

Between cell phones, office phones, and internet costs, many of the telecom companies are vying for your business. Each one is offering the best possible price for your needs. Without a background in the industry, it’s easy to just agree and assume it’s the best deal. As time goes on and your needs change, the original services may no longer be appropriate or cost effective. This is where Cost Wise Business Consulting can help.

“What we do is analyze your telecommunications needs and bills, we negotiate with your phone and internet service provider, and we’ll get you the best deal possible,” says James Bloomfield, Principal Consultant at Cost Wise. “We can often find billing errors, as well as payments for equipment and services that are no longer being used, and we request refunds from telecom service providers on behalf of our clients.”

The business model is not new, but Bloomfield saw there was plenty of opportunity to help people in Manitoba with this service and decided to branch out on his own. With many years of experience working in various roles throughout the telecom industry, and after observing certain deficient practices, Bloomfield decided he would turn his focus and expertise into helping others save money.

“Most companies are contacting providers and trusting the services and rates offered are fair and appropriate,” says Bloomfield. “However, when you don’t know what to ask for, and the call center rep isn’t able to see and understand your needs, they tend to oversell to ensure you have more than enough to service your needs.”

So how does this all work without costing you anything?

“We like to compare our services to that of a pizza delivery company,” says Bloomfield. “If you order a pizza and they never deliver it, you don’t pay. For us it’s the same, if we don’t deliver on the service we provide to save you money, you don’t pay.”

Bloomfield adds that the term “pay” is used loosely because it’s not really costing their client any money.

“Our clients are not really paying us, we are working to save them money from their phone and internet service provider and it’s out of those savings that Cost Wise gets paid.”

To begin, you will sign a contract for Cost Wise to do their consulting and figure out where, if any, the savings are. Cost Wise will then bring the you a few different options of ways they can save you money, and after you decide which option you think best suits your needs, you will agree to pay Cost Wise 50% of their savings over the next three years. If Cost Wise doesn’t find a way to save you money, or you choose to stay the same, there is no cost to you.

“We are advocates of the client and working on their behalf with the providers,” adds Vice President for Business Development Roman Zilber. “They will continue to pay their provider, we are completely transparent.”

Big Savings

On average, Cost Wise have saved companies about 30%. However their record is over 60%. For a small business with just a couple of phone lines, savings of around 30% of their bill is significant. For bigger companies with many phone lines it could work out to tens of thousands of dollars per year.

“For one local company we have been working with we found they were over-paying for a lot of services and we managed to save them close to 30%,” Bloomfield says. “Over the next five years that equates to over one-hundred thousand dollars that they will retain that they otherwise would have been paying, so there’s lots of money left on the table.”

“Business leaders are focused on running their business and that’s great, but as a result money tends to slip through their fingers in excessive telecom expenses,” Bloomfield adds. “We have a very high success rate and are very confident we can deliver a great service while helping people and companies save a lot of money.”

It can be difficult, time-consuming and expensive to follow all the changes in technology, services and rates. Cost Wise understands the inner workings of the telecom industry and will do the work so you can keep the money where it’s meant to be, in your pocket.